"No England side has won a series in South Africa where there's a win percentage of 23 per cent.

"So there's a mountain to climb, but there's nothing better to inspire to work a bit harder and to work together than to climb a big mountain.

"We're missing something like 700 caps so that puts a great hole in our experience, so the guys who have played a number of Tests and are still in the squad carry enormous responsibility.

"Then for the young guys coming in they've got the potential to show that they've got the ability to play Test match rugby and to show they can handle the toughness of a Test match series in South Africa."

Hurricanes flanker Brad Shields is New Zealand and England qualified and has been selected by Eddie Jones

England squad to tour South Africa

BACKS

Full backs

Mike Brown (Harlequins)

Elliot Daly (Wasps)

Nathan Earle (Saracens)

Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)

Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)

Inside backs

Danny Cipriani (Wasps)

Owen Farrell (Saracens)

George Ford (Leicester Tigers)

Alex Lozowski (Saracens)

Cameron Redpath (Sale Sharks)

Dan Robson (Wasps)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Ben Spencer (Saracens)

Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

FORWARDS

Back five

Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)

Ben Earl (Saracens)

Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs)

Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)

Maro Itoje (Saracens)

Joe Launchbury (Wasps)

Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)

Brad Shields (Hurricanes/ Wasps)

Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)

Billy Vunipola (Saracens)

Jack Willis (Wasps)

Mark Wilson (Newcastle)

Front row

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)

Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)

Jamie George (Saracens)

Joe Marler (Harlequins)

Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)

Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)

They said: "Our contract agreement requires Brad to be available for only New Zealand teams until the end of his term, which expires at the end of this year's Super Rugby season.

"Having said that, Brad has been an exceptional leader inside the Hurricanes environment and a loyal servant to New Zealand Rugby.

"We have taken some time to carefully work through the complexities of this request, to ensure that we gave appropriate consideration to his specific circumstances. In the end, we are happy with the terms of his temporary release.

"We are extremely disappointed that the RFU chose to take this unusual step in seeking this release given that Brad has not yet played rugby in England.

"We are releasing Brad with our best wishes, and we hope to see him achieve his goal of playing international rugby in June."

And Shields, who signs for Wasps later this summer, said: "I'm really appreciative that New Zealand Rugby has considered my request," he said in a statement.

"I know it's been a complex matter for them, but I'm hugely grateful for their support on this."

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